Lakehead school owner 'abducted'

Unidentified men allegedly picked up the owner of Lakehead Grammar School from in front of the school's Gulshan branch yesterday.

“Some seven to eight people in plainclothes arrived in front of the Gulshan branch of the school in a microbus around 4:00pm, refused to identify themselves, and picked up Khaled [Khaled Hassan Matin],” Salauddin Miah, officer-in-charge of Gulshan Police Station told The Daily Star, mentioning the general diary filed in this connection.

Police are looking for Khaled, he said, adding that they would see if the there was any CCTV footage available.

Edris Ali, an employee of the school, filed the GD with Gulshan Police Station yesterday evening.

Mentioning the GD, Sub-Inspector Nuruzzaman told The Daily Star that Khaled was returning home from school. Some people told him to go with them and took him away in a microbus, the SI added.

Khaled, also the managing director of RM Group Ltd, a company that supplies construction equipment and materials, purchased the school in March last year.

Contacted, Sabbir Shetu, manager (HRM and Admin Division) at the RM Group Ltd, said they would talk to the media after consulting their lawyer.

On November 7, the district administration of Dhaka sealed off Dhanmondi and Gulshan branches of the school, closing all activities on allegations of patronising militancy, inspiring extremist views and helping militant outfits form.

The Supreme Court later ordered the school to be reopened with a new board of directors comprised of military officials and the Dhaka divisional commissioner chairing.

On January 13, the school was reopened.

The school was co-founded in 2000 by Rizwan Haroon, who has been dubbed as a top militant in some media reports, and Jenifer Ahmed, wife of alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir coordinator and Dhaka University teacher Syed Golam Mowla.

Talking to this newspaper on November 7, Khaled said they had bought the school not knowing the allegations against its management. He had claimed to have brought changes to the entire management of the school.